By Annette Newcomb
Staff Writer
You don’t have to be a farmer to be worried about the weather.
Backyard gardeners and landscapers are dealing with moisture-starved, browning lawns, and wilting trees and shrubs. And there’s no relief in sight.
Every day without rain means farmers are watching commodities like corn, hay and soybeans, along with their profits, dry up.
Randall farmer Bob Gehring turned 71 last month and has farmed in this area almost his entire life.
Without getting significant rain soon, he predicts: “we will get a substandard crop.”
Gehring has about 350 acres of corn and soybeans and years of farming have taught him nothing is a sure thing.
“It ain’t over ’til it’s over,” he said. “Right now we’re on survival mode. The hay crop isn’t looking good at all.”
But things could change with rain, Gehring said, looking at a field on North Lake Street on the outskirts of Twin Lakes.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported last week that while northern Wisconsin received six inches of much needed rain, southeastern Wisconsin was skipped altogether.
With temperatures averaging three to nine degrees above normal recently, the NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Association) has rated southeastern Wisconsin “abnormally dry.”
While not in drought, topsoil is losing about one inch of moisture per week at its current pace.
Gehring said, “We get into a drought situation about every 20 years. Farmers remember dates and I know it was bad in 2005; it was a dry year locally. In 1988 it was dry nationally.
“On May 17, 1988, it was so dry you couldn’t drop a plow on the headland to get into a field,” he said.”
On the flip side, Gehring said one of the latest dates he recalls getting into field to plant was May 26, 1973. “It was so wet, we couldn’t get in.”
Right now Gehring is keeping a close eye on the corn crop. “If it starts to tassel and silk, it’s a bad sign. With the warm weather we had earlier this year, I thought I’d get ahead but this crop is impacted. I think the best corn will be what was planted after April 23. Corn was planted around May 10 is going downhill right now.”
The Farm Journal reports that 77 percent of the corn crop nationwide was rated good to excellent only five weeks ago and that has dropped to 63 percent last week. That is the second lowest in the past decade, the Journal reports.
The Midwest has received less than half its normal rainfall in the past three months. Right now Indiana and Missouri are considered ground zero for drought, the ag publication said.
Local water tables are beginning to show some stress as well. Boaters have noted local lakes are looking low and Gehring said a natural spring on his farm has stopped flowing for the first time.
“There is a natural spring that trickles out of a hill and I have it draining into a tank for the cattle to drink and it has completed stopped flowing…that has never happened before,” he said.
The USDA says as of June 25 corn was about 28 inches high statewide and was looking good where there was moisture, but in this area, farmers are seeing uneven fields and signs of plant stress.
Soybeans were rated 44 percent to very poor in southeastern Wisconsin and weeds were taking their toll where weather conditions prevented timely spraying.
Hay could be in high demand, both Gehring and the USDA predict. In the north, heavy rain pelted crops while lack of moisture is impacting crops here.
Even apple and other fruit trees are feeling the effects of the heat and lack of rain, the USDA said, noting fruit trees are dropping fruit and this year’s strawberry season was cut short.
The weather situation will even hit you at the breakfast table. Maple syrup production is reportedly 50,000 gallons below average. Unseasonably warm weather earlier this year disrupted the normal sap run.
On a positive note, the cranberry crop is reported strong, something to look forward to at Thanksgiving.
Until then, farmers would just be thankful for a little rain.
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